Means for automatically operating bulkhead doors and sluice gates



' 0.1. SMITH AND 0. TOWL. MEANS FOR AUTOMATICALLY OPERATING B'ULKHEADDOORS AND SLUICE GATES.

' APPLICATION FILED Nov. 20. 1919.

Patehted May16,1'922.

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DAVID Josnrit summit, on Lennon, AND orrnn zns rowL-,. or EOBES'J. GATE,ESSEX,

ENGLAND. I

MEANS FOR AUTOMATICALLY GPERATING- BULKHEAD-DOORS AN D SL'UICE GATES.

Original application filed February 3, 181G, Serial, No. 76,031. Dividedand this application filed November 20, 1919. Serial No. 339,319.

To alZ whomit may concern: Be it known that we, DAVID'JOSEPH SMITH,

a subject of the King of Great Britain, and

Means for Automatically Operating Bulk-- head Doors and Sluice Gates, ofwhich the following is the specification.

The invention relates to improvements in automatic door operatingmechanisms, and

' constitutes a division of our co-pending application Serial No. 76031,filed February 3, 1916.

Many forms of apparatus have heretofore been used in operating doors forwatertight compartments or bulkheads for vessels and the like, and theseprior art devices have been faulty in many respects, either due to thefact that the doors when released would not close in time, or themechanism for the doors are to be closed.

The object of the present invention is to provide means forautomatically releasing and positively closing closure doors forwatertight compartments for bulkheads of 1 ships, or for operatingautomatically sluice gates or any other closure.

With this conception in mind, the invention consists of an automatic.generator adapted to produce pressure gases upon the admission of fluidthereto, the said generator being in communication with a cylinderhaving a piston therein adapted upon a movement thereof in one directionto release detent means for holding a door in open.

-' position, and to also positively move said door to its closedposition or approximately thereto after the release of the detentmechanism.

In carrying out the invention the generator maybe placed in, a positionad acent the door to be closed and the water upon entering the shipflows into the generator through a suitable valve producing the pressuregases that are instantly admltted to the cylinder, actuating the pistondisposed there 'in, releasing the door tripmechamsm upon a slightmovementof the piston, and upon a continued movement thereof positivelyclosing the door.

In the accompanying drawings we have shown the preferredembodiment ofthe in vention, but it will of course be understood that this disclosureis only for the purpose of illustration, and that other means can beutilized for releasing and closing the door, as soon as said means isresponsive to the gas pressure generated in the automatic generator.

Fig. 1 is an elevation of door-operating means constructed in accordancewith the present invention, the operating mechanism being shown appliedto a bulkhead door. I

Fig. 2 is a detail part section and part side elevation, on an enlargedscale, of the detent and lock bolt. a

Fig. 3 is a detail horizontal section, on an enlarged scale, of thedetent and lock bolt;

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, wherein like referencecharacters indicate corresponding parts, the numeral 1 designates abulkhead door adapted to open and ciose a suitable bulkhead orwatertight compartment and disposed adjacent said able head 8 carrying atransverse bolt or of asufficient depth to receive the stud 9; The head8 of the piston rod 'is'formed with a projection or lug 11 along its endadapted to be disposed within the path of a suitable bell crank lever 12'fulcrumed in a bracket 13 which is rigidly secured to the stationarywall of the bulkhead, the bracket being shown broken away, the other endof the lever being pivotally attached to a lock iug detent or bolt 13'which is adapted to slide within a vertical guide arranged in PatentedMay 16,1922.

i bulkhead wall.

the metal guide 15 which is preferably a casting rigidly secured in anymanner to a part of the vessel, but preferably to the The guide casting15 has also formed therein longitudinally a guide for the bolt or rod16, having at one end an eye portion 17 which is pivotally connected tothe door 1 by means of a pivot pin 17', it being here observed that whenthe bell crank lever 12 is rocked the detent or locking element- 13 israised out of engagement with the bolt or rod 16 which permits the doorto be moved by the piston from its open position, shown in full linesFigure 1, to a closed position disclosed in dotted lines broken in thecentre.

The door 1 it arranged in any usual manner on rollers (not shown) toslide laterally, may have its movement assisted by being arranged upon adecline indicated by the lines a, b in 1 of the drawing.

In the operation of doors of this character, it is highly desirable thatthey immediately close when the emergency arises and it is alsonecessary that as littlemecha nism as possible be employed so that nofailure will occur. To this end as a means for producing a medium forautomatically operating the piston to release the'door'and close same,we provide a generator 18 having a plurality oi openings 19 fortheentrance of water. A flap valve 20, of conventional form, is arrangedbehind the open ings 19, said flap valve permitting the enrance of waterthrough the openings 19 into the generator 18 but preventing pressuregases from discharging therefrom. The generator is provided with adetachable perforated receptacle 21 for carbide of calcium or the like,in addition to'the water passages 19. The generator is disposedpreferably adjacent the bulkhead door which it operates, and when waterrises a sufiicient height to'flow within the inlet openings 19 of thegenerator, gas is generated therein from the carbide and this gasimmediately flows out under pressure through the discharge pipe 22communicating with the cylinder 2 by the pipe 5, thereby moving thepiston therein and tripping the bell crank lever 12 during its movementby means of the lug 11, the continued movement of the piston when thepart 9 engages the inner end of the slot 10 serving to positively movethe door after it has been released by the raising of the detent 13, thepiston obviously being actuated by the pressure of the gases produced inthe generator by the before mentioned means.

The locking detent or bolt 13 is mounted for a sliding movement withinthe guide casting 15, while the pivot-ed bolt or rod 16 is formed witha: suitable depression or recess into which said detent enters when thebulkhead door is in an open position as disclosed in Figure 1, and upona raising of this detent the rod 16 is permitted to slide forwardly,thus allowing the door to close the same being positively closed by thepistonrod when the stud 9 inthe head 8 engages the end of the slot 10after a portion of the movement of said rod, and this closing action iscontinued until the piston has made a full stroke which issufiicient topositively close the bulkhead door and prevent the admission of watertherethrough.

While the operation of theapparatus will be understood from theforegoing, it might be briefly stated as follows:

The door is normally open as shown 'in full lines Figure 1. Should aleakage in the vessel occur, water will enter the same until it reachesa sufficient height to pass through the openings in the generator,instantly generating gases in the carbide therein which gases areconveyed through the pipe 22 to the cylinder 2 movinguthe pistontherein. The movement of thispiston at once operates the bell cranklever 12, leaving the crank 13 and unlocking thedoor from the walls ofthe bulkhead. The piston continues its movement-under the influence ofthe pressure gases and whenthe stud 9 reaches the end of the: slotl0,'the continued movement of the piston serves to positively move thedoor to closed position. While the present invention is shownas beingapplied to vessels for the operation of bulkhead doors, it will ofcourse be understood that the same is applicable to any form of closurewhere it is desirable to automatically and quickly operate'a door orgate or thelike, and we wish it to be understood that this invention isnot limitedfto the application of the apparatus to vessels.

Having thus described the invention, what we claim is:

Means for operating a door or the like, comprising a cylinder having apiston therein, a generator, for automatically.producing pressure gasesuponthe introduction of water thereto, in communicationwith'thecylinder, means for normally holding the door in an openposition, said means being-adapted to be actuated upon movement. ofthe;piston, to release the door, said door being moved toa closedposition after the release of said holding means upon a: continuedoperation of thepiston.

DAVID JOSEPH SMITH. CHARLES TOWL.

